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How to to set up business cards for 3rd party print

myront

Dammit, make it faster!!
We have always used a particular 3rd party print service to do business cards but now we've began using a different one and they have different guidelines for the set up.

All we did for the previous service was an 1/8" bleed and save as pdf.

The new service not only requires the bleed but also that any graphics has to be 1/8" inside the finished cut. Is this standard practice? Perhaps the other service didn't bother telling us and just adjusted accordingly?

AND PLEASE ABSOLUTELY NO CRITIQUE ON DESIGN.

upload_2019-1-3_9-58-49.png
 

KMC

Graphic Artist
yes especially for business cards you never know if they will be cut ever so slightly wonky so always make sure your text is 1/8" in from the edge
 

Dan360

New Member
1/8" safety margin is common practice for business cards, they're often done on colour copiers for shorter runs which are prone to bounce. Safety margin is so nothing gets cut off when they cut stacks.

Your other service may have adjusted or just didn't care and ran whatever was given without proper preflight.
 

2B

Active Member
correct, there is the BLEED, CUT & SAFE lines. Each line is 1/8" apart.
 

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myront

Dammit, make it faster!!
correct, there is the BLEED, CUT & SAFE lines. Each line is 1/8" apart.

When referencing your image it seems your bleed size is based on 1/16" not 1/8"

This is their specs

upload_2019-1-3_10-45-28.png
 

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Dan360

New Member
Safety margin will differ based on their capabilities, 1/8" is standard. At 1/16" they're confident in their production equipment or they run on a press.
 

kcollinsdesign

Old member
The design could easily accommodate a 1/8" safe line with some layout adjustment (I would not recommend the "NOT THIS" example).
 

bold_will_hold

New Member
In my experience with large volume card suppliers the finish cut will always be slightly off
You can see from the beginning of the batch to the end the cut sometimes changes just a little.

Try to give the text some breathing room so if the cut is slightly off it is not as noticeable.

Also a suggestion..your artwork needs some major kerning issues.
 

neato

New Member
So per your request, I won't critique this particular design, but it's a good practice in general to leave more breathing room in the whole design, especially around the borders. Not only will it make it easier for the printer, it will be easier on the eyes.
 

kcollinsdesign

Old member
Neato: You are quite right. Properly proportioned margins and an understanding of typography often go very far in establishing clear communications. In all cases, content is also important. The clarity of your message is essential. In some cases, the whole top third of a business card could be removed to make the message much more direct and understandable.
 

Johnny Best

Active Member
I use the templates the service requires. Always use crop marks just in case they don't understand how I want it. Seems every fairly large print shop has their own templates and they mostly are different because of the way they cut their cards. I like the 4over business card template the most and it seems to work good at other printers also.
 

shoresigns

New Member
If you don't want your margins to end up looking uneven, a good rule of thumb would actually be to set your safety to double the bleed or more.
 
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